U.S. Journalist Jailed In Zimbabwe For Insulting Mugabe On Twitter

An American woman in Zimbabwe has been jailed for ‘insulting’ President Robert Mugabe by allegedly tweeting an image of him which suggested he has a catheter from an anonymous account which was still active as she languished behind bars on Saturday.

Martha O’Donovan, 25, was arrested on Friday morning at her home near Harare, the country’s capital, and was taken into custody on a charge of insulting or undermining the president and trying to overthrow an elected government.

Police say that on October 11, O’Donovan tweeted that Mugabe, 93, is a ‘very selfish and sick man’ and claimed that he was surviving on a catheter.

They claim they traced the anonymous Twitter account @matigary, which allegedly posted the tweet, to her address through its IP address.

On Saturday, O’Donovan was held in custody after a brief court hearing and she must now wait until November 15 to return to court.

Her lawyers say they will appeal for her to be granted bail at the High Court on Monday.

The Twitter account police say she was behind was still active on Friday and Saturday despite the fact that Martha, who is from Martinsville, New Jersey, was in custody.

O’Donovan, a graduate of NYU, has been in Zimbabwe for a year working for the local TV network Magamba and bar tending.